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Monday federal headlines - August 5, 2013

Monday - 8/5/2013, 10:30am EDT

The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal
Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp discuss throughout the show each day. The
Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the
stories you hear on the air.

You might have to say goodbye to Saturday mail drops but hello to beer and
wine deliveries. Both would be possible under a Senate bill to help the Postal
Service cut costs. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Chairman Tom Carper and Ranking Member Tom Coburn introduced the package. If it
becomes a law, the Postal Service would have one more year to deliberate ending
Saturday mail delivery. It would not be able to close mail processing plants for
another two years. But it could save money from changes in how pensions and
retirees health care costs are calculated.
(Federal News Radio)

For those of you who ride the MARC to work, double-check train schedules
today. The Maryland Transit Administration has tweaked service on the Penn Line. It is calling the changes
'minor.' Most of them affect the ride home after work. See the new timetable. (Maryland Transit Administration)

Before leaving Washington, Senators told the National Security Agency it had
some math to do — calculate how many phone records it tracks. The Senate
Appropriations Committee has approved a measure to force the NSA to report to Congress on the numbers.
Lawmakers want to know how many records the NSA collects and reviews and how much
all of that costs. The agency also would list the potential terrorist attacks
prevented because of intelligence gathered through the program. Sen. Dick Durbin
(D-Ill.) says he wants a more complete disclosure than what the NSA has given
lawmakers thus far.
(Associated Press)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says Republicans may be willing to end the
sequester if Democrats agree to cuts in entitlement programs. Speaking on Fox News
Sunday, Cantor said sequestration was a "default mechanism" and "not the best
solution." He said the fall could present an opportunity to compromise and avoid a
government shutdown. Congress is in recess for the rest of the month. (Fox
News)

The American Federation of
Government Employees is asking that military personnel are not exempt from
2014 sequestration cuts, unless that means the Defense Department won't use the
military for work that was last done by civilian employees. AFGE President J.
David Cox makes his case in a letter to President Obama. Cox says more civilian
employees will be furloughed and possibly laid-off if DoD uses its own military
personnel in their place.(American Federation of Government Employees)

The State Department is keeping 19 diplomatic
posts in the Muslim world closed through next Saturday. A spokeswoman says
it's out of an abundance of caution and not an indication of a new threat. The
facilities still are providing emergency help to American citizens. The U.S.
Embassy in Cairo says its switchboard remains manned 24-7. The White House first
ordered the posts closed Friday after receiving intelligence that al-Qaida or its
allies might attack Americans in those countries. (U.S. Embassy in Cairo)

A former State Department contract specialist has pleaded guilty to funneling millions of dollars to a company
she set up with her husband. Kathleen McGrade worked in the State Department
office that awards contracts for construction on U.S. embassies. She never told
anyone that she had opened a construction company with her husband. She negotiated
nearly $53 million in contracts with the company, Sterling Royale Group. A news
article in 2011 exposed the fraud. It revealed McGrade and her husband had bought
houses, a yacht and other luxury items on the State Department's dime. McGrade and
her husband, Brian Collingsworth, have agreed to forfeit the items. They face up
to 30 years in prison each. (Justice Department)

Three White House staffers had their personal email accounts hacked, NextGov reports. The White House employees are in charge of
keeping administration social media accounts. They received bogus links to what
looked like legitimate news articles. Clicking on the links brings users to a page
that extracts personal log-in information. (NextGov)

Registration is open at Cyber Security Division Transition
to Practice Technology Demonstration in San Jose, Calif. later this month.
Homeland Security Department cyber experts are showing off new cyber security
technologies developed at national Energy Department labs. The DHS Science and
Technology Directorate Cyber Security Division Transition to Practice Program is
sponsoring the event. It's open to federal cyber employees and private industry
professionals. The conference is on Aug. 22. (Homeland Security Department)

A top State Department official takes the stand today in the sentencing
hearing of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning.
Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy will testify about the extent of the
harm Manning did to U.S. foreign relations when he leaked classified cables to the
website WikiLeaks. Kennedy led an investigation into the incident. Manning faces
up to 136 years in prison. He says he leaked the documents to expose wrongdoing by
the military and U.S. Diplomats.(Associated Press)

Air Force Pilots of the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones will get training
from CAE, Defense One reports. It's part of a
$100 million contract over five years. Defense One says CAE first won its Defense
contract back in 1998. It was knocked out of the running in 2008 when the Air
Force limited competition to small businesses. (Defense One)